reviewing

i haven't written about music in a long time, primarily because i've chosen to stay out of the loop of most music lately. i used to follow it a lot, and frankly, i just don't have the energy or the time. but, i thought i'd talk a bit about my deep and undying love for Lana Del Rey.

i love Lana for the same reasons most people hate her. she's been lambasted for being a construct, but i find that the most fascinating thing about her. she's been accused of being morose and sappy, but again, i find it refreshing that a "pop star" isn't happy. i like that she's moody and dark, and willing to sing truthfully about heinously fucked up relationships. it's a different sort of attitude towards men than we've seen from other pop starlets, and definitely a departure from the "girl power" bombast from the likes of Beyoncé. there is a place for "girl power" - but it doesn't have a place in Lana Del Rey's world, which makes her so intriguing. women are full of self-hatred, defeat, and pain. i see nothing wrong with a woman finally approaching the mic with that pain and instead of being angry, misandrist, or bitter about it, accepting the pain with a casual apathy.

we can't be everything to everyone at all times, like Beyoncé. we can't be crazy and fun all the time like Miley. we can't be enthralling and arty all the time like Gaga. but i find i can be Lana at any time - that casual apathy that lies just below the surface, that i can call up at any moment. doing destructive things isn't necessarily a sign of self-destruction. think about all of the ways we destroy ourselves and others on any given day. we're not capable to have love, or give love, or know what love is, because we're simply human. yet, we're confronted with it every day, and demand it of the people around us. then we recoil in horror when it actually shows up in an unabashed form.

on her latest album, Ultraviolence, Lana's songwriting has definitely evolved, and is much more richly textured. there are no huge standouts, like Born to Die, but it's a solid record overall. from the sardonic, sarcastic lyrics of Brooklyn Baby, to her heartbreaking version of Nina Simone's The Other Woman, Ultraviolence takes a tour through domestic violence, female self-hatred, and adultery. it's that darker side that people find self-indulgent, but i find cathartic.

even when Lana demands Money Power Glory, it's with a very specific, very honest confidence. it's the same monstrous character as the women who inhabit her other songs: demanding, because they deserve it, but ultimately broken by their own ambition, and forced to recognize that they'll destroy anyone in their way to get what they want. and, with the past that that character of a woman has had, it's unsurprising that it would be at whatever cost to gain her money, power, and glory. we like to tell people in america that they can do whatever they want, if they only work hard enough. that we're in a meritocracy. which simply isn't true. so, again, i find this album incredibly honest, stripped of any preconceived notions of what a woman should sing about, or be like. it also helps that the sound is baked in the southern california sun, full of warmth and laziness with a healthy dose of heady smog. i hear one woman's singular voice, her character, who is mysterious, complex, vapid, wild, free, trapped, vain, confident, afraid, defeated, triumphant, and a mixed up ball of emotions and inconsistencies. which, isn't that the most honest portrayal that anyone could hope from a pop star?